Courses and Memberships in HighLevel

If you already pay for HighLevel, you already have a course platform. The Memberships feature replaces Kajabi, Teachable, or Thinkific for most use cases – and it connects directly to your CRM, funnels, and automation.

Reading time: approximately 9 minutes.

What Is HighLevel Courses and Memberships?

HighLevel Courses and Memberships is the built-in course creation and delivery platform inside HighLevel. It lives under the Memberships section in the left sidebar of any sub-account and requires no external tools to build, sell, or deliver an online course or protected content library.

The core idea: you build a course as a Product, define who gets access through an Offer, sell that Offer (or give it away for free), and HighLevel handles delivery – protected login portal, drip schedule, progress tracking, and completion credentials. Your CRM, funnel, and automation are all connected to the same system.

There are no student limits and no course limits. A single HighLevel sub-account can host unlimited courses with unlimited members.

Course Structure: Product, Category, Subcategory, Lesson

Every HighLevel course follows a four-level hierarchy. Understanding this structure is the foundation of building courses efficiently.

For courses without a scheduled release – where all content is available immediately on enrollment – you can use a simpler flat structure: Product → Category → Lessons directly, without subcategories. Subcategories become necessary when you need drip scheduling or want to break modules into smaller grouped segments.

Lesson Content Types

Each lesson (Post) in a HighLevel course can include any combination of these content types:

HighLevel also supports Custom Values inside course content – you can personalize lesson text using contact custom values, which is useful for cohort-specific or client-specific course content.

Drip Content

Drip content releases course lessons on a schedule rather than all at once. In HighLevel, drip is configured at the Subcategory level – you set the number of days after enrollment before that subcategory becomes accessible.

A typical drip setup for a 4-week course:

• Subcategory “Week 1” – Day 0 (immediately available on enrollment)
• Subcategory “Week 2” – Day 7 (unlocks one week after enrollment)
• Subcategory “Week 3” – Day 14 (unlocks two weeks after enrollment)
• Subcategory “Week 4” – Day 21 (unlocks three weeks after enrollment)

The unlock date is calculated from the individual member’s enrollment date – not a fixed calendar date. A member who enrolls on March 1st and another who enrolls on March 15th both experience the same schedule relative to their own start.

When a subcategory unlocks, members receive an in-app notification alerting them that new content is available. There is no cap on the number of subcategories or drip intervals you can configure.

Assessments, Assignments, and Credentials

Assessments are quizzes added to individual lessons. They support multiple-choice questions and an optional passing grade.

If a passing grade is enabled, members see whether each answer was correct but do not see the correct answers – they only see pass or fail. If no passing grade is set, correct answers are revealed after submission.

Members can retake assessments. Results are tracked in Memberships → Analytics → Assessments and can be exported as CSV.

Assignments are open-ended prompts where members submit text, files, or video for manual review by the instructor. Unlike assessments, assignments do not have an automated pass/fail logic – they require the instructor to review and respond.

Credentials (introduced September 2025) are digital completion certificates issued when a member finishes a subcategory or entire product. Configured inside the course builder.

Credentials give members a shareable, branded recognition of their achievement – particularly valuable for professional development programs, coaching certifications, or structured training curricula.

Offers: How Access Is Sold and Granted

An Offer is the access package that grants a member entry to one or more course Products. Think of it as the “what they’re buying” – the course or bundle – as opposed to the Product, which is “what they’re learning inside.”

Key Offer settings in V2:

• Free or Paid – free for lead magnets, gated content, or onboarding; paid via Stripe for one-time purchases or recurring subscriptions
• One-time vs Recurring – one-time for lifetime access; recurring for subscription-based membership programs
• Trial Period – offer free or reduced-cost access for N days before the full billing begins
• Start Date – a fixed date when access begins, regardless of when the member enrolled (useful for cohort launches)
• Expiration Period – access automatically ends after N days from enrollment (useful for time-limited programs)
• Access Limit – cap the total number of members who can enroll in an Offer (useful for limited cohorts)
• Built-in Coupons – discount codes applied at checkout, calculated on the post-discount price

An Offer must be published before it can be linked to a Payments product or used in a workflow action. If the Offer is in draft, it will not appear in the product linking dropdown or the workflow action selector.

Automated Access Granting

HighLevel grants membership access automatically through the Course Grant Offer workflow action. When any trigger fires – Payment Completed, Form Submitted, Tag Added, Appointment Booked – the workflow action immediately enrolls the contact in the specified Offer and its associated courses.

This is how the two most common enrollment scenarios work in practice:

E-commerce purchase flow: Customer purchases a Payments product linked to an Offer → HighLevel fires the Payment Completed trigger → Course Grant Offer action enrolls them → Welcome email fires → Member logs into the portal and accesses the course immediately.

Tag-based or form-based flow: Contact submits an application form or receives a specific tag → Workflow fires → Course Grant Offer grants access to a free or manually approved Offer → Member logs in.

Important: if you include a Welcome Email inside a workflow, HighLevel automatically disables the Welcome Email toggle in Membership Settings. Only one method should send the welcome message – either the system default (Membership Settings toggle) or a custom workflow email step.

Running both produces no welcome email at all.

The Membership PWA

The Membership PWA (Progressive Web App) is a white-label mobile app experience for your members. It is separate from the HighLevel Mobile App and the LeadConnector App – it is specifically for your members’ course and community access.

Members install the PWA by visiting the membership portal URL on their phone and selecting “Add to Home Screen.” On iOS and Android, it appears on the home screen with your custom app icon and name – indistinguishable from a native app to the end user.

Setup is done inside Memberships → Settings → Whitelabel App. Configure the app name, icon, and splash screen.

No App Store or Google Play submission is required – which also means no $99/year Apple Developer fee and no review process. The PWA updates automatically when you update the membership portal.

Courses Inside Communities

HighLevel Communities have a Learning Tab where you can add courses for community members. This is a separate access layer from standalone Membership Products – courses in Communities are accessed through the community interface rather than the membership portal.

The Community Learning Tab supports four course access models:

• All Members – free access to all community members; available immediately when the admin adds the course
• Level Unlock – requires the member to reach a specific leaderboard level before gaining access; encourages engagement
• Buy Now – one-time purchase or subscription; member accesses the course immediately after payment
• Time Unlock – available N days after the member joined the community; useful for structured onboarding or progressive learning paths

Only one access method can be applied per course in a Community. When an admin adds a free course (All Members), all existing members receive an email notification and immediate access.

Changes to access settings after launch affect new enrollments only – existing members retain their current access level.

What You Can Do With It

• Build and sell an online course without a separate course platform – everything needed to create, protect, sell, and deliver a course is inside HighLevel already; no Kajabi, Teachable, or Thinkific subscription is needed if HighLevel already covers your CRM, email, and funnel needs
• Run a subscription-based membership program with recurring billing – Offers support recurring Stripe subscriptions with trial periods, so you can run a monthly membership with drip content, community access, and automated renewal billing from one platform
• Automate the entire student enrollment process from payment to portal access – combining a Payments product linked to an Offer with a Course Grant Offer workflow action means a student pays, gains access, receives a welcome message, and can start their first lesson within minutes – zero manual steps
• Issue completion certificates that give your program professional credibility – Credentials tie directly to course completion milestones; for coaching programs, professional development curricula, and certification training, digital credentials give graduates something shareable and branded that reinforces the value of the program
• Deliver a mobile-friendly course experience without building a native app – the Membership PWA installs on any phone’s home screen with your branding in under a minute; members engage with your course content from mobile the same way they would from a native app, without the cost and complexity of an App Store submission

Key Definitions

Use Cases by Industry

Business Coaching and Consulting

A business coach runs a 12-week program priced at $2,997. They build the program as a HighLevel Product with 12 Category modules, each with a Subcategory per week.

Drip settings release each week’s lessons on Day 0, 7, 14, 21, and so on. The Offer is set as a one-time payment via Stripe.

A Payments product linked to the Offer triggers automatic enrollment on purchase. The coach uses Credentials to issue a completion certificate at the end of Week 12.

Assessments at the end of each module track comprehension and add accountability.

Outcome: A professional course experience that rivals Kajabi at no additional software cost – and because it lives in HighLevel, enrollment, CRM tagging, follow-up emails, and completion workflows all connect automatically.

Fitness and Wellness

A personal trainer sells a 30-day transformation program as a monthly membership at $47/month. The Offer is configured as recurring Stripe billing with a 7-day free trial.

Each week is a Subcategory with drip set to unlock every 7 days. Lesson content includes workout videos (uploaded directly to HighLevel), PDF training plans, and audio warm-up guides.

The Membership PWA gives members a home-screen app experience for daily workouts. A HighLevel Community is linked to the program for member accountability and discussion.

Outcome: A subscription fitness program with professional mobile delivery – no additional app builder, no Kajabi subscription, and no manual enrollment. Cancellations are handled automatically through Stripe.

Agencies Onboarding Clients

A marketing agency creates a private client onboarding course – not for sale, but free for every new client. When a client signs a contract and their contact receives the tag “Client Active,” a workflow fires the Course Grant Offer action and grants access to the onboarding vault.

The vault contains setup videos, screen recordings, tutorial walkthroughs, and downloadable asset templates. Clients work through the material at their own pace without consuming agency staff time on repeat orientation calls.

Outcome: Client onboarding is systematized and self-served – new clients get immediate access to everything they need, and the agency reclaims hours previously spent on live onboarding calls.

Real Estate and Professional Training

A real estate training company runs a state licensing exam prep course structured as a HighLevel Product with Categories for each exam section. Assessments at the end of each Category simulate exam-style questions with pass/fail grading.

Learners who pass all assessments receive a Credential. The course is sold through a HighLevel funnel with an order bump offering the full exam prep bundle.

Affiliate Manager campaigns give licensed real estate agents a commission for referring new students.

Outcome: A professional certification prep program built entirely on HighLevel – course delivery, payment processing, affiliate commissions, and credential issuance all running from one platform.

Online Educators and Course Creators

A digital marketing educator offers three tiers: a free mini-course (Offer with no price, free lead magnet), a mid-tier paid course at $297 (one-time, Offer expires in 180 days), and a premium membership at $97/month (recurring, all courses included, new content added monthly). All three are managed inside a single HighLevel sub-account.

The free mini-course feeds leads into the CRM where a nurture sequence sells the paid courses. The Affiliate Manager handles referral commissions for all paid tiers.

Outcome: A complete multi-tier education business on one platform – lead generation, course delivery, membership billing, affiliate management, and CRM automation all connected without external tools.

Who Is This For?

How to Build and Sell a Course in HighLevel

Step 1: Configure Membership site settings

Go to Memberships → Settings. Set your site title, upload your logo and favicon, and configure your custom domain if needed.

Decide on the Welcome Email method – toggle on the system default here, or plan to send a welcome email through a workflow instead. Disable video downloads in Builder Settings if you want content protection.

Note: if you configure a Welcome Email inside a workflow later, return here and turn off the toggle to prevent the conflict.

Step 2: Create your Product

Go to Memberships → Products → + New Product. Select a template (Sprint or Marathon) or start from scratch.

Name the product with your course title. Add a description, thumbnail, and branding.

You are creating the container – content comes in the next steps.

Step 3: Add Categories and Subcategories

Inside the product, add Categories for each major module. Inside each Category, add Subcategories for each week, day, or sub-section.

If all content is available immediately on enrollment, you can use a flat structure without subcategories. If you need drip scheduling, Subcategories are required.

Step 4: Add Lessons with content

Inside each Subcategory, add Posts (lessons). For each lesson: upload a video, add audio if applicable, write the lesson text, attach downloadable files, embed any third-party media, and add an Assessment or Assignment if needed.

Set a lesson thumbnail – or pick a frame from the video. Repeat for all lessons across all subcategories.

Step 5: Configure drip content schedules

For each Subcategory with delayed access, enable drip and set the Day number. Day 0 = immediately on enrollment.

Day 7 = one week after enrollment. Build the full schedule.

Test with a personal enrollment to verify timing before going live.

Step 6: Add Credentials (optional)

In the product builder, configure Credentials for the Subcategories or the overall Product where you want to issue completion certificates. Set the trigger (subcategory complete or product complete).

Design or configure the credential template. Credentials issue automatically when the trigger condition is met.

Step 7: Create and publish an Offer

Go to Memberships → Offers → + New Offer. Name the Offer, add the Product(s) it grants access to, and configure pricing and access rules.

Set free or paid, one-time or recurring, trial period, start date, expiration, and access limit as applicable. Click Publish.

The Offer must be published to link it to a product or workflow.

Step 8: Link the Offer to a Payments product

Go to Payments → Products → + New Product (or edit existing). Set the product name and pricing.

In the pricing section, toggle on Membership Offer. Select the published Offer from the dropdown.

Save. Purchases of this product now automatically enroll the buyer in the Offer and its associated courses immediately after payment.

Step 9: Build the enrollment workflow and test

Create a workflow with a Payment Completed trigger (or Tag Added, Form Submitted, etc.). Add the Course Grant Offer action and select your Offer.

Add welcome message, tag updates, and pipeline stage changes as needed. Publish and test with a real contact.

Verify: access is granted, the welcome message fires once, the member can log in and see their course, and the drip schedule is working correctly.

How It Connects to the Rest of HighLevel

• Workflow Builder and Automation Engine – the Course Grant Offer workflow action is the primary mechanism for automated enrollment. Any workflow trigger can grant course access – payment, form submission, tag, appointment, or custom event. The workflow also handles welcome messaging, CRM tagging, pipeline stage updates, and follow-up sequences after enrollment, all in the same automation.
• Affiliate Manager – Membership Offers can be linked to Affiliate Manager campaigns. When an affiliate refers a student who purchases the course, the commission is calculated and attributed automatically. This turns satisfied students and partners into a referral channel without separate affiliate software. The Affiliate Manager and Memberships share the same Stripe infrastructure for both billing and commission calculation.
• Email Campaign Automation – course enrollment triggers email sequences: welcome emails, drip content unlock notifications, lesson completion follow-ups, re-engagement campaigns for members who have not logged in, and upsell sequences to move free course members toward paid offers. The CRM data from course enrollment feeds directly into email segmentation – enrolled members can be targeted with relevant content separate from non-members.
• Tag-Based Automation – course enrollment, completion milestones, and assessment results can all trigger tag-based automations. When a member completes a module, a tag fires. When they pass an assessment, a tag fires. Those tags trigger follow-up sequences, upsell workflows, or community access grants – connecting the course progress data to the rest of the CRM and automation system automatically.
• Mobile App – while the Membership PWA handles member course access on mobile, the HighLevel Mobile App handles the business owner’s and team’s management side: reviewing member activity, managing contacts who are enrolled in courses, and triggering manual workflow actions on specific students from the mobile CRM. The two apps serve different audiences from the same platform.

Common Questions

To Wrap It Up

HighLevel Courses and Memberships is not a standalone course platform – it is a course platform that is natively connected to your CRM, funnels, email, SMS, automation, and affiliate program. That connection is what makes it genuinely valuable for businesses already on HighLevel.

When a student purchases your course, they become a contact in your CRM. Their enrollment, progress, assessment results, and completion all trigger automations.

Their data lives in the same place as your sales pipeline, follow-up sequences, and support conversations. No data transfer.

No Zapier bridges. No separate login management system.

1. Build your Offer before your Product – the Offer must be published before it can be linked to a Payments product or used in a workflow, so creating it first avoids a common setup bottleneck
2. Use Subcategories even if you do not need drip today – the hierarchy gives you structural flexibility to add drip scheduling later without rebuilding the course from scratch
3. Choose one Welcome Email method and stick to it – either the Membership Settings toggle or a workflow email step, never both at the same time
4. Test the full enrollment flow before launching – pay with a test card, confirm the Offer is granted, verify the welcome email fires exactly once, and check that drip settings are working on the correct schedule
5. Connect Credentials to completion milestones from day one – members who earn a shareable certificate are more likely to talk about your program publicly, which is organic promotion you do not have to pay for

If you are already paying for HighLevel, the course platform is already in your account. The question is not whether you have access to it – it is whether you are using it.